The NICD reports 989 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 713 252. This increase represents a 5.9% positivity rate.
Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 1 death, which did not occur in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99 966 to date.
23 744 362 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 12,909,347 | 54.4% | 10,835 | 64.3% |
| Public | 10,835,015 | 45.6% | 6,014 | 35.7% |
| Total | 23,744,362 | 100.0% | 16,849 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (37%), followed by Western Cape (29%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 20%; Mpumalanga accounted for 4%; Eastern Cape and North West each accounted for 3% respectively; Free State accounted for 2%; and Limpopo and Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 26 March 2022 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 26 March 2022 | Incident infections for 27 March 2022 | Possible reinfections for 27 March 2022 | New cases on 27 March 2022 | Total cases for 27 March 2022 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 344845 | 0 | 344845 | 33 | 1 | 34 | 344879 | 9.3 |
| Free State | 202183 | 0 | 202183 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 202205 | 5.4 |
| Gauteng | 1206594 | 0 | 1206594 | 318 | 44 | 362 | 1206956 | 32.5 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 659029 | 0 | 659029 | 174 | 25 | 199 | 659228 | 17.8 |
| Limpopo | 155689 | 0 | 155689 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 155697 | 4.2 |
| Mpumalanga | 193024 | 0 | 193024 | 37 | 4 | 41 | 193065 | 5.2 |
| North West | 192803 | 0 | 192803 | 25 | 4 | 29 | 192832 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 108837 | 0 | 108837 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 108845 | 2.9 |
| Western Cape | 649259 | 0 | 649259 | 243 | 43 | 286 | 649545 | 17.5 |
| Total | 3712263 | 0 | 3712263 | 864 | 125 | 989 | 3713252 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 5.9%, which is higher than yesterday (5.7%). The 7-day average is 5.8% today, which is higher than yesterday (5.7%). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 7 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.
| Sector | Facilities Reporting | Admissions to Date | Died to Date | Currently Admitted |
| Private | 259 | 232170 | 39379 | 792 |
| Public | 407 | 278883 | 62174 | 1169 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 511053 | 101553 | 1961 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.